RI shuttler cruises to Hong Kong Open semis
RI shuttler cruises to Hong Kong Open semis
JAKARTA (JP): With the threat of expulsion from the Indonesian
Badminton Center hanging over his head, Irwansyah reached the
semifinals of the US$30,000 Hong Kong Open on Thursday.
Unseeded Irwansyah took China's Cai Yun to school, scoring an
easy 15-3, 15-7 victory in their quarterfinal match.
He will next face third seeded Tam Kai-chuen of Hong Kong, who
was pushed to the limit in his quarterfinal match with Bjorn
Joppein of Germany, emerging with a hard-fought 15-12, 15-10
victory.
Another semifinal match on Friday will feature Hariyanto Agus
of Hong Kong and second seeded Chen Wei of China. Hariyanto
defeated Lee Hyun-li of South Korea 15-4, 15-6, while Chen beat
Ronald Susilo of Singapore 15-9, 15-12.
In the women's singles, Indonesia's Yuli Marfuah, seeded
second in the competition, bowed out to unseeded Wei Yan 2-11, 9-
11. Wei will now meet Xie Xingfang, who upset fourth seeded Koon
Wai-chee of Hong Kong 11-7, 11-9 in their match.
In another semifinal match, third seeded Ling Wan-ting of Hong
Kong defeated Dong Fang of China 11-4, 11-9. She will now face
China's Hu Ting, who beat Sathinee Chankrachangwong of Thailand
11-8, 11-6.
In the mixed doubles, Lee Dong-soo and Lee Hyo-jung of South
Korea crushed the Chinese pairing of Deng Chuanhai and Huang Sui
15-8, 15-9.
The Koreans' next challenge will be third seeded Chan Chong
Ming and Joanna Swee Ling Quay of Malaysia. The Malaysians
emerged with a 15-13, 15-3 victory over Norio Imai and Yumi
Akashi of Japan in the quarters.
The unseeded host partnership of Njoto Abertus Susanto and
Chan Mei-mei scored a 15-10, 15-10 upset over the fourth seeded
team of Lee Wei-jen and Tsai Hui-min of Chinese Taipei.
Xinhua reported the Hong Kong pair will now face Guo Siwei and
Chen Lin of China, who sweated out a 15-11, 15-10 win over
Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Saralee Thunghongkam of Thailand.
Indonesia's men's doubles team Sigit Budiarto and Halim
Heryanto survived their second round match, defeating the Chinese
pairing of Cai Yun and Chan Wei 15-10, 15-5. They were scheduled
to play the second seeded team of Chan Choong Ming and Jeremy Gan
of Malaysia late on Thursday. (yan)